People with physical limitations, especially those confined to wheelchairs, often find it difficult or impossible to participate in many athletic and recreational activities for a myriad of reasons. One of the more obvious reasons is that without special equipment, the necessary physical movements needed to participate in the activity are beyond the capabilities of a physically limited person.
To bowl, a person confined to a wheelchair must move the wheelchair about while holding, positioning, and ultimately releasing a bowling ball. Due to the weight of the ball and difficulties encountered in swinging and releasing the ball in a specific direction, handicapped people may find it impossible to bowl effectively or consistently. Moreover, this movement is often beyond the capability and strength of the handicapped person. This is especially true with respect to young children and senior citizens. As a result, physically limited people may find it nearly impossible to bowl without assistance.
Typical bowling ramps, including both free standing and wheelchair attached, have been used by the handicapped for bowling. The ramps are typically positioned on the bowling lane, and are constructed in a way such as to roll the ball down the ramp toward the pins.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,368,898 and 4,441,710, issued to Lay, disclose bowling ramps for use by people confined to wheelchairs. The ramps extend in a declined manner from the seat area of the wheelchairs to the floor. The ramps may be either attached to the wheelchairs or free standing. Such prior art bowling ramps have many disadvantages. One disadvantage of these devices is that the bowler must shift the entire ramp to target specific bowling pins. The need to constantly shift the ramp makes it exceedingly difficult to target specific pins. Since there is neither an indicator nor a reference point on the ramp for repositioning the ramp, the bowler is required to guess as to the amount to shift the ramp in order to knock down specific pins.
A second disadvantage of these prior art devices is that the slopes of the ramps remain constant through the point where the ball comes into contact with the floor surface. Due to the abrupt change in slope which occurs during the transition of the ball from the ramp to the floor surface, the motion of the ball is not smooth. The ball may bounce and slow down considerably.
A third disadvantage of the prior art is that the bowling ramps do not safely accommodate bowling balls exceeding approximately ten pounds. Such prior art ramps may move or collapse resulting in potential injury to the bowler.
A fourth disadvantage of the prior art is that each of the ramps has only one place for positioning the ball. This requires all bowlers to exert the same amount of force to urge the ball down the ramp. People lacking sufficient strength to exert the necessary force are not able to make use of the ramp.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a bowling ramp that overcomes the problems and limitations of the prior art such that the aiming process is as simple and accurate as possible, requiring minimal movement of the apparatus. It would also be desirable to provide a bowling ramp having a slope such that the ball would exit the ramp and smoothly proceed down the lane toward the pins. It would also be desirable to provide a bowling ramp that can be safely used with bowling balls of all standard weights. It would further be desirable to provide a bowling ramp with a plurality of ball positions enabling even the bowler of minimal strength to use the ramp. In conclusion, it would be desirable to provide a bowling ramp that combines all the previous mentioned elements together in a single, unique, easily transportable, and easily stored bowling ramp apparatus.